Pharmacy Residencies and Rotations

IHS Pharmacy Rotations (also called Clerkships) are non-paid rotations for academic credit for students in their last year of pharmacy school. Rotation/Clerkship agreements are in place with many Schools of Pharmacy. You can download a current list of rotation sites and contacts from the IHS Pharmacy website select IHS Rotations/Clerkships.

Interested students should contact their School of Pharmacy’s Experiential Coordinator to be sure the school has an agreement with their desired residency/clerkship location. If an agreement is not in place or to try another location, have the Experiential Coordinator contact the IHS Pharmacy Program. Students or schools must pay for travel and housing expenses.

Nursing Residencies

The IHS Nurse Residency Program (IHS-NRP) is a work-study program designed to strengthen the Indian health nursing workforce by increasing nursing knowledge and leadership development. Nurses must agree to practice within an IHS, Tribal or Urban Indian Program and be licensed as:

Registered Nurses or Advanced Practice Nurses enrolled or accepted into Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in the following academic tracks: Leadership, Mental Health, Midwifery or Family Practice.

For more information, please contact the Office of Clinical and Preventive Services, Division of Nursing at (301) 443-1840.

Medical Student and Resident Rotations

Some Indian health facilities offer opportunities for medical residents to complete elective month-long rotations in rural medicine. Please contact Area Recruiters directly for more information. Visit the Contact a Recruiter page for a list of Area contacts.

Medical students interested in doing unpaid clerkships while still in medical school should contact their IHS Area recruiter for more information.

Optometry Resident and Student Opportunities

IHS offers one-year, post-graduate Primary Care Residencies in Optometry through Marshall B. Ketchum University, Southern California College of Optometry (SCCO). Sites include US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health centers, IHS facilities and the SCCO campus. All positions are filled through the Optometry Residency Matching System (ORMS). Specializations include Cornea and Contact Lenses, Low-Vision Rehabilitation, Ocular Disease, Primary Care and Pediatric Optometry/Vision Therapy. For more information about a specific optometry residency program, go to the Residency Program link on the SCCO site or contact the Residency Program Coordinator.

Many IHS optometry programs have affiliations with the various schools and colleges of optometry for unpaid externships lasting two to three months for fourth-year students. For more information, contact the Optometry Student Coordinator.

Dentistry Residencies

The IHS Office of Clinical and Preventive Services Division of Oral Health (DOH) supports six or seven dental residents simultaneously, selected from current IHS dentists who seek to pursue long-term training in a dental specialty, such as pediatric dentistry. Please contact Timothy Lozon, DDS, Director, DOH, for more information.